What does it cost to get a patent?1
You can find a huge amount of information on the Web on what a
patent is and why it may be appropriate to protect your invention. However, you
will seldom find detailed information on the costs of patenting. As you can
imagine, a straight answer to the question "How much does a patent cost?" is
difficult to give.
These costs will vary greatly and will depend on:
- The size and complexity of the patent document,
- The geographic coverage you want to obtain,
- The complexity of the patent procedure,
- The duration of the patent protection.
Basically, to get and maintain a valid patent you will have to
pay:
- Patent office fees,
- Fees of the attorney representing you before the patent
office,
- Renewal fees to maintain the patent in force,
- Translation fees to translate your patent into the languages of
the countries in which you want to protect your invention.
The following cost indications are based on patent office and patent
attorney resources available on the Web. These are average costs only, aimed at
giving you an initial idea about what a patent will cost.
On average, for a European Patent (20 pages and 10 separate claims)
covering 8 countries and maintained during 10 years, these costs will be:
Patent office fees
|
4300 €
|
14%
|
Fees of the attorney representing you before the patent
office
|
6100 €
|
20%
|
Renewal fees to maintain a patent in force
|
8900 €
|
28%
|
Translation fees to translate your patent document in the
countries you have designated
|
11800 €
|
38%
|
Total
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31100 €
|
|
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Some of these expenses, such as like the renewal fees, are incurred
after the validity period of the patent.
Average patenting costs in Japan and the United States are lower: 17
000 € and 11 000 € respectively for a protection period of 20
years.
It sounds more reasonable when you put it like
that
If one considers a European Patent valid for 10 years as insurance
against infringements (although a patent is not exactly insurance against
infringements as you have to actively sue any infringers) this "insurance" will
cost you 8.5 € per day. This amount sounds more reasonable and also
indicates the daily amount you need to recoup from your invention to cover your
patenting costs.
Beware: enforcing your patent rights can be more
costly
If your invention is successful, it is likely that you will have to
enforce your patent rights. In this case, litigation costs can easily amount to
several tens of thousands of euros per European country involved, and exceed
one million euros in the United States. But it must be noted that patent
infringement cases are sometimes settled out of court. This approach can reduce
above costs.
To sum up
When entering the patent process, you must be aware of all of these
costs. You should also remember that they are not all due when applying for a
patent. This means that securing your rights for an initial period can be much
cheaper than the total amounts mentioned above. You can take advantage of this
initial period to explore the market and check the financial potential of your
invention or to search for a partner who can acquire a license on your
invention. In high-tech fields, a patent is often considered as a prerequisite
to attract venture capital.
In any case, we advise you to contact a patent attorney to properly
assess the patenting costs of your specific invention.
Read more
The IPR-Helpdesk patent costs table (slightly outdated,
but detailed)
Another IPR-Helpdesk paper on patenting costs with
links to patent office fees
An extensive paper on international patenting costs
www.invention-ifia.ch
Enforcing patent rights: the story of Mandy Haberman (David vs
Goliath)
www.mandyhaberman.com
Patent litigation: a country overview
www.ladas.com
1.
This section is aimed at providing our target users with a small
web module to enhance their IP knowledge. It targets researchers or persons who
need basic IP knowledge at work.
Each module will tackle a specific subject using material and
examples available from the Web. («)
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